The Colts are turning to another Eagles offensive coordinator fresh off a Super Bowl appearance to lead Indianapolis into its next era of football.
Shane Steichen was hired as the next Colts head coach on Tuesday, the team announced.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reports Steichen received a six-year contract from the Colts, per a source.
Steichen succeeds Frank Reich, who was fired midway through his fifth season with the Colts. Reich was hired in 2018 following his two-year stint as Eagles OC, which culminated with a victory in Super Bowl LII over the Patriots.
Jeff Saturday served as the Colts’ interim coach following Reich’s dismissal and was one of several candidates to receive a second interview for the head coaching job.
Steichen becomes the 22nd head coach in the Colts’ 70-year history.
“Our culture is going to built on four pillars,” Steichen said at Tuesday’s introductory press conference. “One’s going to be character — character is very important to me. We want to treat people with respect, and we want to feed the positive and weed out the negative. Number two is the preparation. I truly believe this: the separation in this league is in the preparation. How we prepare as a football team and an organization Monday through Saturday will ultimately dictate the outcome of a football game. Now will it guarantee us a victory? No, but it’s going to give us a fighting chance — I promise you that. Number three is consistency. We got to be consistent and it starts with us as coaches being consistent with our message to the players and tell them exactly how we want it to look and how we want it to be done. Number four is relentless. We got to be relentless in our pursuit to be the best. The best players, the best coaches I’ve been around are obsessed with their craft and that’s what we want to build here and that’s what we want to get done.”
Indianapolis will tab a rookie head coach to help correct the course of a franchise that has struggled to find a stable replacement for Andrew Luck following the quarterback’s shocking retirement in 2019. The Colts have tallied a 31-34 record with one playoff appearance (zero playoff wins) in the post-Luck era.
“Shane had a lot of that offensive magic, which is hard to find in this league,” Colts owner Jim Irsay said Tuesday. “Offense, in my mind, can be a little more complex and takes a longer time to develop knowing that we’re going to have to find a young quarterback to develop. That’s a key factor, but he had to show the leadership, he had to show that he had a presence, and boy did he come through in that in his interview.”
Steichen, 37, has developed a couple of notable young QBs over the course of his 11-year NFL coaching career.
Before landing in Philadelphia, Steichen was the OC of a Chargers offense that produced Justin Herbert’s historic rookie season in 2020. Herbert’s 31 touchdowns, 396 completions and 289.1 passing yards per game set all-time rookie records.
Steichen then played an integral part in the development of another young QB the following season in Philly, helping guide Jalen Hurts to 3,928 offensive yards (3,144 passing, 784 rushing) and building the league’s No. 1 rushing offense which earned a playoff berth under a first-year starting QB and rookie head coach in 2021.
The Eagles, who also lost defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to the Cardinals on Tuesday, really came into form in 2022 with Hurts at the helm and Steichen calling the plays, averaging 389.1 yards and 28.1 points per game while producing the league’s best regular-season record (14-3). The No. 1-seeded Eagles maintained that dominance into the playoffs, scoring 30-plus points in both wins leading to the franchise’s fourth NFC title.
In Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, Philadelphia produced 417 total yards and 35 points in its loss to the Chiefs.
Who will be the QB in Steichen’s first season in Indy remains a question. Armed with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Colts are primed to select a quarterback prospect after hiring who they hope to be one of the next great offensive minds in the NFL.
Irsay admitted to liking Alabama QB Bryce Young in an off-handed comment Tuesday when the topic was brought up to Colts general manager Chris Ballard.
“The Alabama guy doesn’t look bad, I’ll tell ya,” Irsay said.
Steichen said he plans to call the offensive plays in his first season as head coach, detailing his offensive philosophy as one that will “throw to score points in this league and run to win.”
“I think accuracy, decision-making and the ability to create are the three things I look at in a quarterback,” said Steichen. “Above the neck, I think the players I’ve been around — Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and Philip Rivers — they all have one thing in common: they’re obsessed with their craft. If you can find that in a quarterback, you’re probably going to have some success.”
Steichen takes over a Colts team that is only one year removed from producing the league’s second-best rushing offense in 2021. Most of the Colts offensive line is slated to return and star running back Jonathan Taylor — the league’s rushing champion in 2021 — is expected to be fully healthy following an injury-riddled 2022. Indianapolis also carries over core pieces on defense entering 2023.
